Gelsinger, CEO since 2021, had a 40-plus-year career at Intel. He was betting the company on 18A, a new chipmaking process hoping it would be a viable alternative to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., (TSMC) the world’s leading contract manufacturer of chips, Fortune ’s Jeremy Kahn recently reported.

CFO David Zinsner will step in as interim co-CEO as Intel races to regain lost ground in the GenAI race after reporting a record loss of $16.6 billion for its most recent quarter.

A new boss will have to decide whether to abandon the company’s hopes of becoming a chip-manufacturing leader.

The chipmaker is considering at least two people outside the company to replace former CEO Pat Gelsinger, who abruptly retired on Sunday.

Intel Corp.’s search for a new chief executive officer will focus heavily on outsiders, with the chipmaker considering candidates such as Marvell Technology Inc. head Matt Murphy and former Cadence Design Systems Inc.

Intel may have ousted CEO Pat Gelsinger, but he’s leaving the company with a significant payday. He’s set to receive 18 months of his base annual salary of $1.25 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.